This rare handaxe was fashioned out of flint by Neanderthals over 40,000 years ago and
originally discovered in France. The
site this specimen was excavated from is now closed and protected by the government.
France is considered by many to be the capitol of prehistoric human
history in Europe. Fine quality and aesthetic Lower and Middle
Paleolithic handaxes from France have become insanely desired by
European collectors since the ban on digging in 1986. France is
most famous for its Neanderthal sites, as well as history, and
Mousterian handaxes of size and beauty such as this example have become exceedingly rare and desirable!

This
is a CHOICE GRADE example of an MOUSTERIAN HANDAXE from France.
The color and workmanship are incredible to say the least! An
added bonus is an ingeniously designed palm and thumb rest grip that was
oriented out of an original exterior portion of the flint nodule this
handaxe was made from by its intelligent Neanderthal creator. This
can be seen in the photos above but the feature must be held in person
to truly appreciate its "magic" when felt. This handaxe
demonstrates true master craftsmanship with a perfectly ergonomic grip
design and a pronounced thumb rest as seen above. Excellent
overall bifacial workmanship and form. The color of the flint is
simply amazing - a mosaic blend of brown, olive green, cream and gold! All edges are
superbly made and flaked faces shows stunning beauty. A few
later period chips are present but but nothing that is an unsightly
detraction. Perfect French handaxes are practically
impossible to find and now fetch amazing prices starting at several
thousand euros and go up from there. Perfect specimens with this
color and size can run into unbelievable prices when located. This is THE nicest and
most colorful, AS WELL AS LARGEST Neanderthal handaxe we have or ever
will offer for sale.
A
well-formed tip is present and thin body profile make for a sharp
chopping tool. Soil sheen is beautiful, natural and a testament to
tens of thousands of years of burial. The
form and execution of this extraordinary handaxe is absolutely the
finest one could ask for. Unlike their much larger predecessors of the
Sahara during the Acheulian, Mousterian handaxes are much smaller in
comparison but this example is a very large exception! Not only are Mousterian handaxes considered some of
the rarest and most prized tools of the Neanderthals, this exquisite
representation could easily have also been a Neanderthal PRESTIGE TOOL
with this kind of workmanship, size an color. Overall workmanship
clearly indicates a HIGHLY SKILLED Neanderthal craftsperson fashioned
this superb and truly MUSEUM GRADE specimen. This
specimen is the finest shaped specimen we could offer and is the
quintessential example of the high level of Neanderthal workmanship in a
stone flaked tool!NO
RESTORATION AND NO REPAIR.

The Levallois
Techniqueis
a method of flake tool
manufacture that
was first employed in
the Acheulian Era about 250,000 years ago by archaic Homo sapiens but
perfected in the Middle Paleolithic Era by Neanderthals. It
consists of starting with a core of stone and using heavy percussion
hammering on one side to remove large flakes in a radial fashion,
creating a "turtle-back" profile on one side of the core.
A single heavy blow at one end of the core struck the flake off and the
end result was a prepared flake (a la Levallois) with a convex shape on
one side (from initial flake removal when still attached to the core)
and a flat side on the other (from the side split off the remaining
core). Edges of this struck flake were then retouched to create
the desired cutting edge but the geometry of the two sides remained.
It was the Levallois method employed by Neanderthals to manufacture a
variety of early tools including the first points that were hafted to
wooden poles for use as spears.

The
MOUSTERIAN tool tradition gets its name from artifacts discovered at a
primitive rock shelter named Le Moustier located in southwestern
France. Compared to the bulkier tools of the Acheulian produced by
the Levallois technique, Mousterian tools are comprised of smaller
flakes from an exhaustively worked core which are then retouched on the
edges to make a large variety of tools. These tools are not only
smaller than Acheulian specimens, but they are more specialized for
their various tasks. Mousterian tools can be broadly put into four
classes: 1) SAWS (Denticulate Tools) and KNIVES, 2) SCRAPERS
3) BORERS 4) HANDAXES, CHOPPERS and CLEAVERS.

Mousterian
tool-makers were the primitive humans knows as the NEANDERTHALS.
Neanderthals had massive skeletons and teeth, flat foreheads and heavy
brow ridges. Their skulls were larger than a modern man and
contained an average brain capacity of 1500 cc, averaging slightly
larger than humans of today.